(I am still trying grumpily to remove these obnoxious ads — was that why I stopped posting for so long? Had the outside forces monetized my space against my will? …I have slept since then. Where was I?)
As we unraveled my web of thoughts these last few days, I discussed my latest research interests and desires to reclaim certain parts of myself. Call it being a late bloomer, or call it a midlife crisis. Either way, I won’t be offended. I can say I left as I was beginning to analyze lyrics on my own, disappointed by the narrow focus my students presented — I can only digest so much Taylor Swift and ‘Merica County music before my lower eyelid twitches uncontrollably. Neither genre appeals to me, and the rare opportunities to read about Alice in Chains’ “Rooster” or the like came few and far between. So, I did what any rational adult would do — I doom-scrolled!
Spring Break 2025, I decided to torture myself look into the Appalachian folklore since I was curious about the tales surrounding the whole “don’t whistle back” mantra I hear in passing. Think of it like camp-fire stories, I suppose. I wandered into dangerous territory on TikTok and consumed distressing videos including skinwalkers, Wendigos, and other such delightful cryptids — the sort of thing a 42-year-old chicken ought not to do, you know? One such creature was the Whistlin’ Jack of Sequatchie Valley, Tennessee. One bone-chilling tale came from a man who claimed to be former military; I approach these stories with skepticism, but he recounted the experience in Lovecraftian detail. Needless to say, I opted to find cute opossum videos and unhinged humor afterwards before settling in to sleep.
My brief foray into the paranormal inspired me to revise the Rhetorical Analysis of a Song assignment that had become incredibly boring to grade — what if I changed the cultural artifact? What if I catered to the regional appeal? I spent time reviewing local legends and cryptids, comparing them with the folklore of early settlers and indigenous populations emerged. Could common themes of ethos bring these communities together? What shared values did these groups hold? What sort of emotional appeals were at play? What logic and reasoning may have inspired such tales? Could the timing of specific events influenced their legends? Clearly, room for academic research existed, so adapted the assignment I did!
Have a favorite cryptid or legend? Leave a comment below!
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